Jack is not fond of the bossy narrator of his fairy tale! When Jack is told to trade his beloved cow Bessie for some magic beans, throw the beans out the window, climb the ENORMOUS beanstalk that sprouts overnight, and steal from a GIANT, he decides this fairy tale is getting out of control. In fact, he doesn’t want to follow the story line at all. Who says Jack needs to enter a life of daring, thievery, and giant trickery? He takes his story into his own hands—and you’ll never guess what happens next!

With laugh-out-loud dialogue and bold, playful art (including hidden fairy tale creatures for kids to find), this Jack and the Beanstalk retelling will have children rolling with laughter till Bessie the cow comes home.

Activities:

Pinterest board full of Jack and Beanstalk related crafts and activities.

Why I Like This Book:

A hilarious fusion of a modern boy in a classic fairytale. The use of meta makes this a stand-out book in a saturated genre. Brilliantly clever!

The smart book design clearly depicts the three voices.

Narrator’s story voice in old font.

Narrator to Jack in bold font.

Jack’s dialogue – to the narrator, to himself, to other characters in the story – in bubbles.

Jack is a boy with modern sensibilities and complaints. I loved Jack’s dialogue since in some ways it voices the thoughts and feelings of today’s young reader. From Jack’s adoration to his pet cow Bessie to his attempt to negotiate with the narrator regarding the size of the beanstalk.

While Jack’s attitude is whiny in the first half, it serves him well in his dealings with the giant leading to a revamped ending that is wonderfully unexpected and satisfying. Be on the lookout for cameos from Cinderella and other popular fairytale characters.

Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and Baby Bear know how to rock! But they need a new singer, so they audition everyone—the Three Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, and more. To their dismay, no one seems just right. Could the perfect lead singer be the mysterious girl sleeping on Baby Bear’s keyboard?

Goldilocks and the Three Bears has to be the most popular story to do a fractured fairy tale. I’m not sure why but this rhyming version by Ms. Schwartz rockets to the top of the charts for sheer originality and fun. The rhythm and pop feel of this rendition will engage today’s kids and their American Idol watching parents. This book is a pure read-aloud joy that is enhanced by the colorful pencil and digital illustrations.

One lucky winner will receive their choice of a signed copy of this book OR a free picture book critique from Ms. Schwartz. In the comments answer “What favorite pop song do you like to sing or bee-bop too?” Deadline to enter is February 20th 9pm PST.

My favorite song to rock out on these days is “Safe and Sound” by Capital Cities.

Like this:

“But like I was saying, the whole Big Bad Wolf thing is all wrong. The real story is about a sneeze and a cup of sugar.”

Everyone knows the story of the three little pigs, or at least they think they do. In this clever re-telling Mr. Alexander Wolf tells his side of the story. He says it was just a big media spin.

This adaption of the classic tale is ingenious. I love the “reporting” narrative style. The illustrations complement the story-telling perfectly, starting from the newspaper style cover of the book. I’d recommend this book for kids 6+ as the story is based on the premise that the media twisted the story. Also in this rendition the wolf does eat two of the pigs.

Author: Jon Scieszka
Illustrator: Lane Smith

If you like this type of story also check out The Three Pigs by David Weisner. In this re-telling the pigs escape the Big Bad Wolf by jumping out of the page. The pigs go on a storybook adventure jumping in and out of other stories and eventually bring a fiery friend back to scare the wolf. This version is suitable for young kids.

One day a prince rides by and sees the girl of his dreams. He asks her to throw down various items so he can climb up and save her. But things don’t quite work out that way, due to series of mis-understandings. The book does end with the prince’s dreams coming true, but it’s not what you would expect. Afterall, it is a fractured fairytale.

My girls like the simple colorful images and rhyme. The author does a good job with the page-turns in holding the reader’s suspense of “what did Rapunzel throw down next”. This is a refreshing re-telling of a classic. Kids do not need be familiar with the original Rapunzel to enjoy this rendition.